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I really hope they keep the Newtonian mechanics as in Elite2, and implement a 'fly-by-wire' mode on space-crafts which makes them behave somewhat like atmospheric vehicles, it's just a matter of thrusters at the right places fired at the right time, but if you turn everything off, the spacecraft should properly be affected by gravitation of nearby planets and stars.

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Beta backer here, have already wasted a ton of time in this game. "Fly-by-wire" is called "flight assist" in the game, and it works essentially the way you describe.

You mostly get the sort of gravity effects you're describing in the fast-traveling "supercruise" mode, where the proximity of a large mass severely slows you down. The effect is handy for slowing to approach speed close to stations, since they're generally close to a planet or a moon.

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